Colombia in 2008

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The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist guerrilla group opposing the government, suffered several major setbacks in 2008. In March the Colombian military struck a rebel camp in Ecuadoran territory, killing, among others, senior leader Raúl Reyes and setting off a diplomatic skirmish with Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Ecuador. In May the group revealed that its leader and founding member, Pedro Antonio Marín (also known as “Tirofijo” and Manuel Marulanda Velez), had died of natural causes at what was believed to be the age of 77. In July the Colombian military rescued 15 FARC hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. Defense Department contractors. Later that month hundreds of thousands of Colombians participated in peaceful marches calling for an end to the kidnappings and violence perpetrated by armed groups—the FARC had more than 700 captives and the National Liberation Army (ELN) more than 200, most of whom were ordinary citizens being held for ransom. A military operation in September resulted in the killing of a particularly violent FARC commander, Aicardo de Jesús Agudelo, known as “El Paisa.”

Following her dramatic rescue after more than six years in FARC captivity, former Colombian …

William Fernando Martinez/AP

The daring rescue of Betancourt and 14 others was made possible by government infiltration of the upper reaches of the group’s leadership. A member of the FARC, cooperating with government forces, convinced the leader of the cell holding the hostages that a humanitarian nongovernmental organization (NGO) was arriving to transfer them to another cell. The helicopters sent to carry out the transfer were carrying government personnel rather than NGO workers. After takeoff, the cell leader and his aide were overpowered, and the hostages were informed that they had been freed.

The much-heralded rescue of Betancourt and the others was welcome news for the administration of Pres. Álvaro Uribe. It showed that the falling out with Venezuela’s Pres. Hugo Chávez over Chávez’s failed mediation efforts between the government and the guerrillas did not mean that the fate of the hundreds of hostages held by the FARC was completely without hope. The rescue also helped divert public attention from a corruption scandal involving the government and its supporters in Congress. In 2004 Congress had approved a constitutional amendment clearing the way for Uribe to run for a second term in 2006. Allegations emerged that congressional support was purchased by the administration through bribes and promises of government favours, particularly in the cases of Yidis Medina and Teodolindo Avendaño.

Previously, members of the government had been charged with having close ties to the right-wing paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC) and with accepting AUC campaign contributions. Critics suggested that the extradition of 14 AUC leaders to the U.S. in May was in part motivated by an effort to keep them from identifying their ties to the government.

Despite such criticism, Uribe’s continued popularity, which spiked even higher after the rescue of the hostages, fueled speculation that he would find a way to seek a third term. When the Supreme Court concluded that his 2006 reelection was tainted by corruption, Uribe suggested that he would hold a referendum to see whether the presidential vote should be repeated. If the proceedings had gone forward, they might have been used as a means to extend his stay in office, which was currently proscribed by the constitution after 2010. Instead, the new interior minister, Fabio Valencia, was charged with consolidating congressional support behind the process of amending the constitution yet again to allow the president to serve a third term. Uribe suggested that he would consider sitting out a term and seeking reelection in 2014, but this would also require a constitutional amendment. While the administration turned its attention to Congress, the tension between the Supreme Court and the executive branch over the connections between politicians and right-wing paramilitary groups continued unabated.

The “firing” of Chávez as a mediator between the government and guerrillas and the incursion into Ecuador to strike a FARC camp precipitated diplomatic crises. The situations were exacerbated by the ideological distance between the conservative Uribe and the left-of-centre Presidents Chávez and Rafael Correa of Ecuador. Colombia’s apparent isolation on the continent seemed to ease in the latter half of the year. Bogotá joined a regional defense alliance spearheaded by Brazil, and an anti-drug-trafficking summit held in Cartagena generated international cooperation, including promises of support from Venezuela.